What is efficacious grace?

All this calls for careful consideration for, as an intelligent moral agent, man cannot be transferred out of the condition of estrangement from God, and brought into intimate nearness like a mere material object. In the very nature of things soul history and progress in relation to the divine claims must be attended with pain. In the sovereign work of new birth when the Spirit says, "Let there be light," the effect is repentance and produces the cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner," as a result. Faith as the gift of God is now present and the Gospel is accepted which brings about conversion and the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins. This may come immediately after the initial work of new birth, which is the divine order, or it may well be some time after, and in many cases, where the truth is little known, souls are often left a long time struggling in a condition analagous to that detailed in Rom. 7. This interval may be seen in a case like Cornelius the centurion, a pious man who prayed to God, to whom was given a vision, followed by a visit from the Apostle Peter. Having received the Gospel he was sealed by the Holy Spirit. Acts 10. The same thing may be seen in Saul in the three days he was without sight, after the Lord had met him on the Damascus road. Acts 9. Again, the twelve men at Ephesus who were in the Christian company but had not yet received the Spirit. Acts 19. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His, or he is not of Him. Rom. 8:9. This brings us to the peculiar favour and blessedness of the indwelling Spirit. It is not that souls in the transitional state between new birth and sealing do not belong to Him. The Old Testament saints belong to Him; so also the disciples before the cross, but to be of Him is another matter. This can only be true of those within the baptism of the Holy Spirit. To be in Christ, free from condemnation and blessed with every spiritual blessing, is the portion only of those sealed by the Spirit of God. It is no question of denying that souls may be happy and in the hopes of heaven, for the Lord can meet them where they are, but deliverance from the law, the flesh or sin, cannot be the experience of souls in that state.

Freedom from compulsion is of course allowed on all hands, save by infidel minds. Indifference is not truly the state of man, either natural or renewed, and indeed would mean no will: the one is inclined to evil, the other to good. Conscience is not will. It may warn, but is powerless. Grace alone acts effectually by faith.

John 6:64-65. There were some who professed to be His disciples, but they believed not. Men might indeed follow Him in the crowd, for the sake of material benefits, but no man truly came to Christ except it were given him of the Father. The Father draws (verse 44); The Son speaks (verse 63); and the Spirit quickens by applying His words in power to the soul.

With respect to the first of these points, it has already been discussed. The unlimited scope of the Gospel message, as preached under heaven to man, is too clear to insist on further. But, wide as the aspect of Divine grace is, it is only the receivers of its abundance who are brought within the circle of its blessing. The publication of the love of God to the world, as witnessed by the gift of His Son, is one thing — the acceptance of the grace thus preached is another and a totally different thing. The reception of grace is not an act of the natural will of man, wrought to a persuasion of good by the preaching of the word of grace. On the other hand, it is not an effect produced upon the creature, absolutely, and without his willing consent. But it is the special operation of God, who, by the Holy Ghost, quickens into life the poor dead sinner by means of the Word, and thus gives him the desire for, and imparts to him a power to receive the gift of God (John 4). God is the builder of the saint's rest. It is the abundance of Divine mercy which has not merely sent Christ into the world, and in Him provided eternal redemption, but which also begets unto Himself the children of His love. As it is elsewhere said: "Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth (James 1:18; cp. 1 Peter 1:23-25). The word of truth, even though it be a proclamation of grace, is but a dead, a killing letter, unless it become the effective instrument of His power who works all things after the counsel of His own will.

Now, we thoroughly believe that faith is the gift of God, and that it is not according to man's will or by human power. And further, we believe that not a single soul would ever come to Christ if not drawn, yea, compelled by divine grace so to do; and therefore all who are saved have to thank the free and sovereign grace of God for it; their song is, and ever shall be, "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth's sake."

You say that he has faith - 'may it not be that he opens his hand to receive?' But hearts are not so disposed; they will not open the hand. Everything is done, as far as the heart is concerned, when it is disposed to receive Christ. He complains that when He came there was no man. You acknowledge that he has salvation, but, if a man is disposed to open his hand, conversion comes from the will of man. You say that as soon as a man believes we find that God renews his mind. But, if he believes, it is already renewed, since Christ is precious to him, while before he saw no beauty in Him that he should desire Him; already he knows that he is a sinner, and needs a Saviour, and he has found Him if he believes. Observe that Jesus says, "You will not come." I believe fully that they are responsible for it; but where do you find, You will? The word of God expressly says, No. "There is none that seeks after God." He came to seek them, thank God, but when He came He was rejected; He was not received save by those who are born of God. This is said by the Spirit in Isaiah 50, by John the Baptist, by the Lord, and by the apostle John. Now certainly God does not hinder any one from coming, but such is the disposition of the heart of man that he will not. This is why the work of God is necessary, and why it is said, "No man can come unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him." Perhaps you will say, Every one is drawn. No, because the one who is drawn comes, and Jesus will raise him up at the last day: he is saved, see John 6:39. Therefore it is said (ver. 37), "All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." The Lord then expressly says what you say He does not say, "No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him," and He repeats (ver. 65), "Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father." Also it is written, "But ye do not believe, because ye are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice … and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish."

Now as to the passage in Ephesians 2, it is very simple. What is said of the neuter is this: the adversaries of this truth say that τοῦτο ("that") cannot agree with "faith," because the latter is feminine; but in the same way it cannot agree with "grace" (χάρις) because it is feminine. Then they say, It is true, but it agrees with the whole thing, salvation; but this has no sense. "By grace ye are saved through faith, and that (this salvation) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Certainly salvation by grace is not of ourselves, otherwise it would not be grace - impossible to suppose that grace is of myself, so that in this case "and that" has no meaning. But it may well be supposed that faith is of ourselves, as you say; therefore when he has said that it is by faith he adds, "and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." In short, by true faith we have life; we are children of God; but this is so because we are born of the Spirit, who works in us, and produces faith when we are begotten of God by His own will. To be begotten of God is by His operation, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit; but seeing that it is by the word, and by means of faith (the Spirit gives to the word the divine power which produces life, as the incorruptible seed of the living God enduring for ever), the word of God becomes the revelation of His Son in us, and Christ thus received is our life.

"Jesus therefore† answered and said to them, Murmur not among yourselves. No one can come unto Me except the Father Who sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. (Isa. 54:13.) Every one that heard‡ from the Father and learned cometh unto Me. Not that any one hath seen the Father, except He Who is of God, He hath seen the Father" (verses 43, 44). Unbelief can only destroy and trouble; it cannot give life or comfort. Man under Satan is the source of unbelief, which ever leads from Christ, not to Him. But as the Father sent Christ, so He draws the believer to Christ, Who raises Him up at the last day. It is not man's worth or work or will, therefore, but the Father's grace, by which one comes to Christ. The whole blessing, in short, is of sovereign mercy, and so the prophets have written. All true teaching comes from God, and all are taught of God, Who never forgets what is due to Christ. "Every one that heard from the Father and learned" comes to Christ. Not that the Father has been seen by man. He is known in the Son. "He who is of God, He hath seen the Father"; it is Christ only Who has. Ἰησοῦς, omitted by most [so Blass], is read by ℵBLT, etc. † οὖν, "therefore," is read by ℵAD and ten uncials more, most cursives, etc.; but omitted by BCKLTΙΙ, ten cursives, and several ancient versions [Blass simply, "He said to them"]. ‡ The aorist participle has the preponderance of witnesses in age and number.

In answer to all such cavillings the Lord only again retires into His own consciousness of how the case really stood. "Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw Him: and I will raise him up at the last day." No one hungers for the bread of life so as to come to the Saviour except as drawn by a sense of urgent need which exists in none but those whom the Father draws. The prophets had declared of all who should inherit Israel's promised blessings in the latter day, "And they shall be all taught of God." This scripture our Lord quotes, and again consoles Himself with the assurance, "Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me." All in Israel who had inwardly heard God's voice, not only came to Jesus, but were overjoyed to do so. Take Nathanael for an instance (John 1:49). It was these dealings of God with the soul under the fig-tree, these humbling discoveries of self and sin leading to guileless confession of total ruin, that accounted for any coming to Christ. But, as it were, excluding the sense which might have been put on His words, the Lord adds, "Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father."

The Lord proceeds to explain what was behind and above this in the words that follow. "All that the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me; and him that cometh unto Me I will in nowise cast out. For I am descended from heaven not to do My will, but the will of Him that sent Me" (verses 37, 38). This then is the key, and it is twofold; and only in this largeness do we know the truth. If either side be taken to the exclusion of the other, the teaching is imperfect, and the consequences are apt to be error on this hand or on that. The reprobationist presses the first clause; the Arminian the second. Neither gives its due weight to the clause they respectively omit. The theologian who sees only the Divine decrees pays little heed to the encouragement given by the Lord to the individual that comes unto Him. The advocate of what he calls free-will seeks to neutralise, if he does not absolutely ignore, the declaration that all the Father gives to Christ shall come unto Him; and no wonder, for it is an assertion of His sovereignty, which is inexplicable on his own theory. But the hard lines of reprobationism can as little admit cordially the Lord's assurance of a welcome to him that comes unto Him. ἀπὸ ABLT with cursives, ἐκ ℵDEΔ, etc.

In this setting stands that great and assuring gospel statement, "Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." In John 3, we saw that though "no man receives His testimony," yet some did receive His testimony. Now, for the first time we discover what lies behind the paradox. There is the sovereign grace of the Father, which has given certain to the Son, and these without any exception come to Him. These happy individuals are impelled towards Him, as far as their own consciousness is concerned, by a variety of things, differing in almost every case; yet beneath all, as the ultimate explanation, lies this gift of the Father to Christ — a love gift, we may call it.

All that the Father has given come, and none that come are cast out by the Son; and that not only because of His own grace and personal love for such, but because they are the Father's gift, and because the very object of His coming down from heaven was to carry out the Father's will, and thus reveal the Father's heart. The Father gave them in order that, coming to the Son, He might be to them the Giver and the Food of life and thus, the Father made known to them, they might be satisfied indeed. There is no possibility of any slip between the Father's gift and the Son's reception. As we observe thus the context and bearing of the passage, we see how rightly and happily the evangelist directs the anxious soul, who is turning towards Christ and about to come to Him, to the golden words, "Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out."